Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009: Poster: Reyna 1 837

Developing quality e-learning sites: A designerapproach

Jorge Reyna

Excellence in Learning and Teaching Unit

School of Education, University of Western Sydney

Introduction

The e-learning interface design should be a core, integrated component of the overall design of on-line

units. The interface design should be determined by how people learn and the tasks they need to perform.

This should be driven by a pedagogical, not technological, approach which identifies learning outcomes

(Guralnick, 2008). In this regard, design layout has an important role in the look and feel of e-learning

sites and can affect the way students learn and interact on a particular unit.

Assessing fifteen e-learning sites in our school, we identified inconsistencies in the use of colours, icons,

typography, navigation and file size. We are currently developing a strategy to overcome these limitations

and standardise the units across the School of Education.

Objectives

• To describe, in a practical manner, technical considerations for web design such as colour scheme,

banners and icons, typography, navigation and file size.

• To work together with academics to achieve outstanding e-learning sites that will engage students and

enhance the on-line learning experience.

Design guidelines

Colour scheme

Colours create moods and it is very important to consider the way we combine them. This is especially

the case when we take into account that people who are colour blind will not be able to read a website that

uses, for example, red and green colours. The same colour scheme should be used in your units for

consistency.

Bright backgrounds with colours that “clash” should be avoided, as they make it hard to read, tire the eyes

and can turn many readers off. They can even cause dizziness, sore eyes, headache and loss of

concentration/motivation.

Course banner and icons

From a design point of view, it is important for units to have their own banner. A banner will attract the

student into the unit he/she is navigating. The banner can be placed on the homepage and also throughout

the rest of the pages. Icons represent the items with which they are linked. They need to be of the same

size and design/look in order to create a professional layout. Using a standard set of icons which matches

your course banner throughout your entire e-learning site will enhance the appearance and navigability of

your site.

Typography

It is very important to use web-safe fonts when we create e-learning sites. Web-safe fonts are fonts

common to all versions of Windows, Mac, Linux, etc. This guarantees a proper display across platforms.

Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009: Poster: Reyna 1 838

For consistency, the same font type, size and colour should be used in your entire site. Avoid underlining

words unless you want to create a link from them. Use bold fonts discreetly; otherwise you are going to

lose the attention you want to attract. Italics should be used for foreign or Latin words like in situ, ad

libitum and so on.

Navigation

Navigation is a crucial factor to take into account when we design e-learning sites. The opportunity for

fluid movement within your site encourages visitors to explore it in its entirety, whereas poorly designed

navigation leaves them stuck and spinning around in circles.

The unit homepage should have at least the following links: Unit Outline (Left corner desirable),

Learning Guide, Learning Modules, Collaboration, IT Tutorials/Resources, Assignment Submission and a

sitemap.

File type and size

Moderate file size enables efficient downloads. Large files greater than 20 MB take longer to download in

slow connections and can be frustrating. It is important to include descriptions of the file type and size so

students are aware.

Work in progress

Our first step was writing an article about basic standards for web design which we distributed to

academics. The second step was to produce a slidecast with the purpose of giving a visual illustration of

these standards (Reyna, 2009). Following this, a meeting was set up individually to help them to build

their sites for second semester, 2009. The design guidelines were strictly applied in every unit.

During this project, academics reported that building e-learning sites was quicker and easier when

working with an e-learning technical officer, rather than working alone, as was also reported by Lewis

(2008).

Preliminary conversations with students showed that e-learning sites are easy to navigate and they

reported less time to complete tasks. At the end of the semester we will gather information from students

via surveys, using Google Docs, on how good design practices can enhance the learning experience.

References

Guralnick, D. (2007). User Interface Design for Effective, Engaging E-learning. Kaleidoscope Learning.

New York

Lewis, K. (2008). Academics’ Perceptions of the Assistance Provided by Instructional Designers. In

Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications

2008 (pp. 3453-3465). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/28864.

Reyna, J . (2009). How to Make Your vUWS an Engaging Experience for Your Students. School of

Education, University of Western Sydney.

Reyna, J. (2009). Basic Web Design Tips to Improve your vUWS sites. School of Education, University of

Western Sydney. Online resource at http://www.vimeo.com/7037562

Please cite as: Reyna, J (2009). Developing quality e-learning sites: A designer approach. In Same places,

different spaces. Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009.

http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/procs/reyna-1-poster.pdf

Copyright © 2009 Jorge Reyna.

The author assigns to ascilite and educational non-profit institutions, a non-exclusive licence to use this

document for personal use and in courses of instruction, provided that the article is used in full and this

copyright statement is reproduced. The author also grants a non-exclusive licence to ascilite to publish this

document on the ascilite Web site and in other formats for the Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009. Any

other use is prohibited without the express permission of the author.